LIV Golf has postponed one of its upcoming events amid questions about its funding.
The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, New Orleans-based WDSU and the Athletic reported on Monday that LIV will not play its event at Bayou Oaks at the originally scheduled dates in late June. Days after reports emerged regarding Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund no longer backing the fledgling golf league, Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development Susan Bourgeois reached out to LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil regarding the league coming to her state. According to the Athletic, LIV officials agreed to “push back the date” due to its changing business model. Additionally, the New Orleans Advocate reports that LIV has instead pitched a fall date with a different format and smaller field.
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On Tuesday, Governor Jeff Landry and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Bourgeois released a joint statement confirming the event has been postponed. “First, we want to thank Zurich and PGA Tour leadership for another outstanding tournament this past weekend. We are proud of the continued partnership and the opportunities this event brings to our state each year.
“Secretary Bourgeois spoke with LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil on Friday and was informed that the organization seeks to postpone its June 2026 event in New Orleans to explore a potential event this fall. The state has already paid $3.2 million in accordance with the contract. LIV is expected to return all state incentive funds, with the exception of the $2 million already invested in upgrades for City Park, ensuring those improvements remain in place for the community. We appreciate LIV’s good-faith efforts and look forward to maintaining our partnership as we continue conversations around an event later this year.
“We are grateful for the work of our local partners and the collaboration that supported this effort. Louisiana continues to move forward with strong momentum and we remain focused on opportunities that deliver value for our communities.”
As of writing, LIV Golf has not addressed the postponement.
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RELATED: Is LIV Golf finished?Earlier this month, officials with the PIF unveiled a new strategic direction that amounts to a fundamental rethinking of the fund’s mission. For the better part of a decade, Saudi Arabia used the fund as an image-laundering operation, pouring money into global sports, entertainment and technology as a means of projecting a modernized, westernized face to the world. That approach is being shelved. The new priority is domestic investment, and any international ventures that survive the cut are expected to generate returns. PIF has injected more than $5 billion into LIV Golf since the league launched in fall 2021. However, the league has hemorrhaged billions and failed to gain investors for its teams. O’Neil said earlier this year that it could be another decade before LIV sees profitability.
Moreover, the Iran War has created serious financial pressure on PIF, with Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz cutting Saudi oil exports nearly in half.
Two weeks ago, in broadcast remarks that were promptly deleted from social media, O’Neil said that LIV was only funded through this season, pushing back on previous remarks that the league was backed until the 2030s. “It’s just not the way the world works,” O’Neil said about future funding. “We have commitments to have this … the reality is you’re funded through the season and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going.”
Following reports about LIV’s future, O’Neil addressed staffers in an email saying the season would continue as planned. He seemingly addressed the reported by mentioning “the life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure.”
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This story will continue to be updated.
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